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Comet

La Sagra

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279P/La Sagra

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.993 AU
True anomaly
183.27°
Distance from Earth
5.845 AU
As of
22 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth La Sagra — 4.993 AU from the Sun La Sagra
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. La Sagra is 5.845 AU from Earth today (48.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 02m 41s
Declination
-01° 02′ 59″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.65° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.575 AU
Eccentricity
0.3979
Inclination
5.05°
Orbital period
6.76 years
Perihelion
2.153 AU
Aphelion
4.998 AU
Longitude of ascending node
346.28°
Argument of periapsis
6.02°
Epoch · J2000
2456226.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 446.4 LD
1.1471 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.97

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
290
Data arc
21.48 years
First observed
11 July 2002
Last observed
2 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.8
16

Discovery & classification

Also known as 279P · 279P/2009 QG31

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2039-12-12 14:31:00 Jupiter 0.3796 AU 147.7 LD 2.9 km/s
2039-12-12 14:31:00 Juptr 0.3796 AU 147.7 LD 2.9 km/s
2064-06-06 16:06:00 Juptr 0.8415 AU 327.5 LD 3.6 km/s
2100-01-31 09:09:00 Juptr 0.9508 AU 370.0 LD 4.2 km/s
2147-06-29 08:18:00 Juptr 1.364 AU 530.8 LD 5.5 km/s
2159-02-20 03:04:00 Juptr 1.5423 AU 600.2 LD 6 km/s
2161-09-16 21:12:00 Juptr 1.9379 AU 754.2 LD 1.6 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources